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May 12
1800s 1900s *1910 - Chief Bender of the Philadelphia Athletics pitched a 4–0 no-hitter against the Cleveland Indians. Bender, who missed a perfect game by issuing a walk, will compile a 23-5 record during the season. 1910s *1915 - Using just 67 pitches, Red Faber of the Chicago White Sox threw a complete game victory beating the Washington Senators on three hits, 4–1. 1920s *1926 - Walter Johnson of the Washington Senators recorded his 400th career winning game whe he defeat the St. Louis Browns, 7–4, to reach the rarely-achieved milestone. 1930s *1932 - Carey Selph of the Chicago White Sox collected his ninth strikeout of the season. But it won't happen again. Selph will go another 89 games without striking out, to set a major league-record, hitting .283 in 396 at-bats in his second and last season. The Selph’s record will last until 1958, when Nellie Fox set a new mark with 98 consecutive games whitout striking out. *1937 - Joe Medwick hit two home runs and two doubles to lead the St. Louis Cardinals to a 15–3 victory over the Philadelphia Phillies. 1940s *1941 - After five years of being called the Bees, the National League franchise in Boston was once again known as the Braves. 1950s *1955 - Toothpick Sam Jones of the Chicago Cubs became the first black pitcher to throw a no-hitter in major league history as he did it in the most hard way. In the ninth inning against the Pittsburgh Pirates, Jones walked the bases full and then struck out Dick Groat, Roberto Clemente and Frank Thomas in a row to preserve his 4–0 victory. It was also the first no-hitter at Wrigley Field in the last 38 years. Unfortunately only 2,918 fans were on hand to witness the double milestone. *1956 - Carl Erskine of the Brooklyn Dodgers pitched a 3–0 no-hitter against the New York Giants. Erskine stroke out three and walked two. His masterpiece at Ebbets Field was the second no-hitter of his career. His first came in 1952 against the Chicago Cubs. *1958 - Willie Mays hit the first grand slam in the brief history of the San Francisco Giants. Mays also belted another home run in a 12–3 victory over the rival Los Angeles Dodgers. The Giants had moved from New York to San Francisco prior to the 1958 season. *1959 - At Yankee Stadium, Yogi Berra committed an error as his errorless streak of 148 games for a catcher came to an end in a New York 7–6 loss to Cleveland. 1960s *1962 - New York Mets relief pitcher Craig Anderson won both ends of a doubleheader. Success will soon turn to failure. Anderson will lose his next 16 decisions on the season and 19 decisions overall. In fact, he will never win another game in the major leagues. *1966 - Lou Brock hit a RBI single in the 12th inning and gave the St. Louis Cardinals a 4–3 victory over the Atlanta Braves in the opening of Busch Memorial Stadium. Felipe Alou hit two home runs for Atlanta. *1969 - Bob Gibson of the St. Louis Cardinals became the seventh pitcher in National League history to strike out the side on nine pitches. Gibson enjoyed his feat against the Los Angeles Dodgers, as part of a 6–2 win for St. Louis. 1970s *1970 - Ernie Banks hit his 500th career home run off Pat Jarvis in the Cubs 4–3 victory over Atlanta at Wrigley Field. It was also his 1,600th career RBI. The ball, after it bounced back onto the field, was retrieved by Braves left fielder Rico Carty, who gave the ball to Banks. Carty, meanwhile, hit safely in his 30th consecutive game. *1971 - Heinie Manush died in Sarasota, Florida, at the age of 69. Manush won the American League batting championship in 1926, and twice led the league in hits. A lifetime .330 hitter, Manush gained induction to the Hall of Fame in 1964. *1978 - At Royals Stadium, a potential game-ending routine fly ball became an Amos Otis walk-off inside-the-park home run as Reggie Jackson and Mickey Rivers collided in the outfield. The misplay turned a sure Goose Gossage save into a sour loss for the current World Champions New York Yankees. 1980s *1984 - Cincinnati Reds pitcher Mario Soto was one out away from a no-hitter when the Cardinals George Hendrick hit a home run to tie the game 1–1. Cincinnati then rallied for a run in the bottom of the 9th inning to give Soto a one-hit 2–1 victory. *1989 - Rick Reuschel of the San Francisco Giants recorded his 200th major league win beating Montreal 2–1. 1990s *1999: **Boston Red Sox pitcher Pedro Martínez struck out 15 batters for the second consecutive game in the 9–2 victory over the Seattle Mariners. **The Angels shuts out the Yankees, 1–0, behind the combined three-hit pitching of Chuck Finley and Troy Percival. Finley stroke out 11 Yankees in his eight innings of work, including four in the third inning, to became the 33rd pitcher in history to strike out four in a single frame. It is possible when a batter with two strikes on him takes a swing at strike three; however, the catcher does not field the ball cleanly, and instead of tagging the runner out, the runner reaches the first base. The strikeout is recorded, but not the out. 2000s *2000 - Boston Red Sox pitcher Pedro Martínez, who posted 17 strikeouts in his last start on May 6 against Tampa Bay, struck out 15 in a 9–0 shutout over the Orioles, to tie an American League record set in 1968 by Cleveland Indians’ Luis Tiant for most strikeouts over two games. *2001: **A.J. Burnett pitched an unlikely no-hitter, overcoming nine base on balls to lead the Marlins over San Diego 3–0. **MLB was ordered by arbitrator Alan Symonette to reinstate nine of the 22 'resigning' umpires let go two years ago and must give back pay for missed time. The order also states veteran umpires Frank Pulli and Terry Tata do not need to retire after the season as previously planned. *Carlos Delgado hit his 204th home run in a Toronto Blue Jays uniform, surpassing Joe Carter in the all-time Blue Jays career leader in homers. *2004 - In one of the most remarkable at-bats in major league history, Alex Cora fouled off 14 consecutive pitches and then hit the 18th over the right field fence for a two-run home run off Cubs pitcher Matt Clement, which extended Los Angeles lead to 4-0. The Dodger Stadium crowd cheered each foul ball as the total started to be displayed on the scoreboard. Births *1862 - Jimmy Wolf, outfielder (d. 1903) *1866 - Lave Cross, player and manager (d. 1927) *1897 - Joe Dugan, infielder (d. 1982) *1916 - Hank Borowy, All-Star pitcher (d. 2004) *1922 - Johnny Hetki, pitcher *1925 - Yogi Berra, Hall of Fame catcher and manager *1935 - Felipe Alou, All-Star outfielder and manager *1942 - Ted Kubiak, infielder *1951 - Joe Nolan, catcher *1957 - Lou Whitaker, All-Star infielder *1959 - Kevin Bass, All-Star outfielder *1965 - Angel Escobar, infielder *1966 - Rafael Bournigal, infielder *1968 - Mark Clark, pitcher *1976 - Wes Helms, infielder *1978 - Josh Phelps, DH/IF *1980 - Felipe López, All-Star infielder Deaths *1953 - Ed Summers, pitcher (b. 1884) *1971 - Heinie Manush, Hall of Fame outfielder (b. 1901) *1979 - Clyde Kluttz, catcher (b. 1917) *1994 - Si Johnson, pitcher (b. 1906)